Guitar Diagram

Know your instrument.

Here's a guitar diagram of all the major parts you need to know on a electric and acoustic guitar.

HeadThe Head is where your tuning takes place. They come in two design types - one with three tuning pegs on each side (like in the picture), and one with six pegs on one side (usually found with electric guitars like the Stratocaster).

Tuning PegsThere are six tuning pegs, one for each string. Turns these little fella's whenever you need to adjust the pitch (or tune) one of your strings. The cogs on the head that are a part of the tuning mechanism (where the string goes through) are called machine heads.

NutThe nut consists of six small grooves which job it is to keep your strings in place, and parallel to one another, on the neck of the guitar

FretsThe frets are inserts made of wire type, which effectively divide the neck into small rectangles. I usually refers to the blocks between the wire as 'frets' and not the wire itself.FretboardThis is where the stuff happens, where your fingers will spend a lot of time once you start playing guitar. Fretboards are usually made of Rosewood and include position markers (to show you which fret you're on) which can be small white dots or plastic inlays

Pick GuardThis plastic protector will help avoid plectrum scratch marks on your guitar's bodyPickupsElectric guitars do not have any acoustic sound in and of themselves. Rather, string vibrations are transmitted to an amplifier through the pickups.

SaddleThe saddle is the part of the bridge which control string height. The strings rests on the saddle as they leave the bridge and make their way across the neck to the head (wow, almost sounds like a western movie!)

Different types of Guitars have slightly different parts. If you're unsure about the different types of guitar visit the Types of Guitars page.

This guitar diagram has shown you the basic parts of the guitar that you need to be aware of as you start the lessons. If there are other guitar related terms that you are unsure of, visit the Guitar glossary.